News Shotgun 11/5/22
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun
The Gentlemen series adds cast members: The spin-off of Guy Ritchie’s 2019 movie The Gentlemen is coming to Netflix and the main cast was fleshed out this week. Theo James will star as Eddie Halstead, who inherits his father’s estate but discovers that it’s part of Mickey Pearson’s (played by Matthew McConaughey in the movie) weed operation. Vinnie Jones, Kaya Scodalerio, Joely Richardson, Giancarlo Esposito, Daniel Ings, and Peter Serafinowicz will co-star. Ritchie is the showrunner, co-writer, and executive producer and will direct the series’ first two episodes, and the show will have an 8-episode first season.
Westworld canceled at HBO: HBO has canceled their prestige drama Westworld after four seasons. Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy were in talks with the network to do a fifth and final season to wrap up the story but the network decided not to renew the show. The main cast will be paid as if a fifth season was filmed. Ratings had been going down with each progressive season while the costs were up, with season 3 for example having an estimated cost of $100 million for the season.
Day of the Jackal series in development at Peacock: Peacock is looking to turn the classic thriller Day of the Jackal into a TV series. The classic 1973 movie (and the loose remake in 1997) are based on the 1971 novel by Frederick Forsyth and follows an assassin known only as “Jackal” who is hired in 1963 to assassinate French president Charles De Gaulle by a far-right organization. The new series “is a bold, contemporary reimagining of the beloved and respected novel and film. While remaining true to the DNA of the original IP, this contemporary drama will delve deeper into the chameleon-like ‘anti-hero’ at the heart of the story, in a high-octane, cinematic, globetrotting cat and mouse thriller, set amidst the turbulent geo-political landscape of our time”.
New Godzilla movie coming from Toho: OG Godzilla studio Toho announced on “Godzilla Day” (November 3rd) that they are developing a new movie featuring the King of the Monsters. Toho’s last movie was Shin Godzilla and this new movie will arrive on November 3rd, 2023. Takashi Yamazaki will direct the movie, having directed the footage for “Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle” at Seibu-en theme park and also directed live-action adaptations of anime like Space Battleship Yamato and Parasyte.
Aubrey Plaza joins Coven of Chaos: Aubrey Plaza will join Kathryn Hahn in the Wandavision spin-off series, Agatha: Coven of Chaos. It’s not clear who Plaza will be playing and the overall plot of the show is under wraps. Jac Schaefer, who was the writer and executive producer of Wandavision, will be the writer and executive producer of Coven of Chaos.
The Sandman renewed for Season 2: Netflix has renewed their Neil Gaiman adaptation The Sandman for a second season. The show had strong ratings for Netflix when it debuted in August, peaking at 127.5 million hours watched during its second week of release. The new season will continue to adapt Gaiman’s The Sandman comics, originally published by DC.
Lupita Nyong’o starring in the third A Quiet Place movie: Lupita Nyong’o will face off against the horrifying aliens of A Quiet Place as she’s been cast as the lead of the upcoming third movie in the series. This new movie will be a spin-off called A Quiet Place: Day One and will be directed by Michael Sarnoski, who directed the Nicolas Cage movie Pig. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski will most likely not appear in the new movie, although it is based on a story by Krasinski, and A Quiet Place: Day One will open on March 8th, 2024.
Stargirl ending on The CW: The current third season of Stargirl, which is hitting the home stretch, will be its last. The series will not get a new season and it’s part of the shakeups at The CW by new owners Nexstar Media Group, which also ended veteran CW shows The Flash, Riverdale, and Nancy Drew. The creators of Stargirl got word early that this might be the final season of the show and wrote an ending that will wrap things up in this season’s now series finale.
JCVD starring in a new action movie: Our beloved Jean-Claude Van Damme is starring in a new action movie called Silent Kill. The movie “will follow four mercenaries who find a hidden treasure in the Congo. They bury it and agree to meet back at the same spot in three years and split the fortune evenly, but things take a different turn”. Van Damme will co-star with NFL star Vernon Davis, Rafael Amaya, and Madalina Anea. Anthony Hickox, who previously directed movies like Waxwork and Hellraiser III, is directing Silent Kill.
Aaron Eckhart replacing Alec Baldwin in thriller Chief of Station: Aaron Eckhart will be taking over starring duties in the upcoming thriller Chief of Station from Alec Baldwin, who was originally cast in the movie. Jesse V. Johnson is directing the movie and it co-stars Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer. Eckhart will play a former CIA chief of station, who learns that his wife’s death was not an accident and reenters the world of espionage to uncover the truth.
Friday the 13th prequel series coming to Peacock: The first major piece of Friday the 13th media after the extended rights lawsuit was finally settled in September last year is coming to Peacock. Bryan Fuller, the creator of Hannibal and Star Trek: Discovery, is developing a prequel series called Crystal Lake, although there are no specific plot details but it’s highly unlikely it would center on Jason. A24 will be producing the series and the show has been ordered straight to series by Peacock.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II cast as Wonder Man: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is jumping over to Marvel after two DC roles as Black Manta and Doctor Manhattan, as he was cast as Wonder Man for the upcoming Disney+ series focusing on the character. Simon Williams is Wonder Man in the comics, who is a rich industrialist who is given “ionic” powers by Baron Zemo and sent to infiltrate and betray The Avengers but he eventually helps and joins them, settling into a role as a West Coast Avenger.
Henry Cavill leaving The Witcher after Season 3: Next year’s Season 3 of The Witcher will be the last for Henry Cavill. The actor is leaving the series and his role of Geralt of Rivia and Liam Hemsworth has been cast to replace him for Season 4. The Witcher’s production is done overseas and demanding time-wise and Cavill has many high-profile projects coming up, including Guy Ritchie’s new movie and his renewed role of Superman for DC Studios, so those were possibly contributing factors to his decision to leave the series.
